On February 3, 1943, an army transport ship called the Dorchester carried American soldiers across the Atlantic Ocean to serve in World War II. In the middle of the night, the ship was hit by a torpedo from a German submarine, and quickly it began to sink.
There were 4 military chaplains on the ship: Father John Washington, a Catholic; Reverend Clark Poling, a pastor in the Reformed Church; Rabbi Alexander Goode; and Reverend George Fox, a Methodist pastor. As the ship was sinking, these four men quickly began to help others get to the evacuation points, encouraging the others to have faith and take courage.
Because the ship was quickly sinking, not enough life jackets were available for all of the 900-plus people on board. When the four chaplains realized that not enough life jackets were available, each of them quickly gave up their own life jacket to one of the soldiers. These men stood on the deck as the ship went down, linking arms and praying together, while others were able to survive long enough to be rescued from the frigid sea waters. The four chaplains on board willingly sacrificed their lives so that others could live.
I don’t know the stories of the lives of the soldiers who received the life jackets from these men – I merely read this story in articles online – but I would be willing to bet that their lives were forever impacted by the sacrifice of the four chaplains who gave up their hopes of survival in order to save others. You would live the rest of your life knowing that you live because someone else gave their life for you. You would remember that the reason you didn’t die is because someone else was willing to die in your place. Imagine how humbling that would feel; how thankful you would be. That sacrifice would forever change how you live your life, because it’s as though you are living in place of that person who died for you. They died for you, so in a way, your life would forever be dedicated to living on in their memory, remembering their sacrifice for you, living in continual thankfulness for what they did for you.
A sacrifice so great would change everything about who you are and how you live.
This morning I read a passage from the book of 2 Corinthians. It’s one that I am fairly familiar with, but for some reason today I was able to see it in a completely different light.
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
Don’t miss that.
One has died for all… that [all] who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him.
This is how Paul spurs on the church in Corinth to live radically different lives: by reminding them of the fact that Jesus died for them, so they ought to live for him. Our sin, our decision to try and live our lives independent of God’s good leadership, had so alienated us from Him that each and every one of us was destined for life apart from Him. It was as though we were on a sinking ship with no land in sight. But God had a rescue plan in mind. He steps onto the deck of the sinking ship in the person of Jesus, and he offers up His own lifejacket, his own seat on the life boat, for anyone who would trust in Him.
It’s the greatest exchange in human history.
The best way to respond to someone who gives themselves for you is to choose to give yourself for them. To live a life that honours them, remembers them, and speaks of them often. If the story of Jesus is true (and I’ve staked my entire life of the belief that it is), it means that Jesus died for me and for you, and the only proper way to respond to that is to live completely for Him. He doesn’t owe us anything, because He has already given us everything. Consider that today, and let it change who you are, and how you live.
Hildenbrandt Ministries 